about to get a compelling new leader, gabrielle giffords. giffords and her husband, mark kelly, are vowing to do whatever it takes for new gun safety measures, and we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. executor of efficiency. you can spot an amateur from a mile away... while going shoeless and metal-free in seconds. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. now this...will work. [ male announcer ] just like you, business pro. just like you. go national. go like a pro. and his new boss told him two things -- cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. but, dad,

. her husband, captain mark kelly, also testified. kelly's message, demanding change is not the same as taking away people's guns. >> we take that right very seriously, and we would never, ever give it up, just like gabby would never relinquish her gun, and i would never relinquish mine. but rights demand responsibility. >> giffords and kelly are pleading on behalf of common sense here. this is why gun safety opponents like the nra's wayne lapierre need to create multiple straw men instead of talking about the facts. the gun lobby will do anything to keep all guns free from restrictions. fewer restrictions means more sales, which means more money for gunmakers and manufacturers and guys like wayne lapierre. >> if you try to do this universal background check, which sounds whatever, it ends up being a universal federal nightmare imposed upon law abiding people all over this country. criminals will ignore it. so what is the point of the whole thing? >> this is lapierre's newest argument. a universal background check won't do anything, he says. but more than 40% of gun sales escape backgro

solutions. giffords' husband mark kelly cofounded the organization with her. he gave powerful testimony as well today. >> we believe wholly and completely in the second amendment and that it confers upon all americans the right to own a firearm for protection, collection, and recreation. we take that right very seriously, and we would never, ever give it up just like gabby would never relinquish her gun and i would never relinquish mine. but rights demand responsibility. and this right does not extend to terrorists. it does not extend to criminals. and it does not extend to the mentally ill. >> one more thing i want you to see. following this morning's testimony, gabby giffords and mark kelly met with president obama in the oval office. so david corn, i show you all that and i ask how can the momentum to the extent that momentum exists right now on the president and the white house side, how can it be maintain snd how do you maintain that level of emotional testimony? >> well, it was quite an emotional moment watching gabby giffords get up there courageously and her husband wh

want you to see. following this morning's testimony, gabby giffords and mark kelly met with president obama in the oval office. so david corn, i show you all that and i ask how can the momentum to the extent that momentum exists right now on the president and the white house side, how can it be maintained? how do you maintain that level of emotional testimony? >> well, it was quite an emotional moment watching gabby giffords get up there courageously and her husband who i've met in the past i have to say is damn impressive. he was a hero for going up in the space shuttle and now he's a hero for taking on this hard issue and doing it with such great aplomb. it's important, keep him and gabby giffords and the kids in newtown, keep them in the spotlight. let them have the platform they want. the only way anything happens on the gun violence prevention front is if the intensity level remains on the side of people looking to change the status quo. you know, you know on the side of the nra and extremists on that side, there is already the intensity. it's always been there. they ca

first hearing is going to be held this week. the testimony from mark kelly, whose wife, gaby giffords was shot will be heard. and joining me is the author of "the last begun." you were a member of the nra, and the president calls his proposals common sense and critics say it's not going to do a lot to prevent mass shootings and would not have helped in new town, connecticut, if you had the ear of congress, which of the president's recommendations would you tell them to take up first? >> there are three things i would tell them to take up first. but the most important is to ban the high capacity magazines, they are ammunition feeding devices to make it possible to bring military fire power our schools and public gatherings and our churches. that's the most important thing. cut back on the ammunition capacity then go to the complete background check, meaning covering gun shows and private sales between individuals that account for 40% of all firearm sales in the united states and finally i would ban the high capacity semiautomatic rifles themselves. >> critics of the proposal of assault

and her husband, mark kelly, are vowing to do whatever it takes for new gun safety measures, and we'll be right back. >>> we're back. we've been reporting this week on efforts by republicans in some states to change the way votes are counted in order to give republicans a major advantage in future presidential elections. it's an effort that has picked up the most steam so far in virginia. the legislation was introduced there that would allocate their votes based on congressional districts rather than winner-take-all. the goal seems obvious, to dilute the urban vote, the ethnic vote or the black vote or whatever you call it. last night i called it a mickey mouse gimmick to win elections without having to actually win the most number of votes. thankfully, not all republicans have joined the mickey mouse club on this one, and there are indications today, good news for everybody, that the virginia bill might be heading toward defeat. state senator ralph smith, a republican, said this morning he thought the plan was a bad idea, and virginia governor bob mcdonnell also said today he wa

in terms of gun control. it is important to understand this is the first hearing. mark kelly who's the husband of a victim of gun violence, he's going to be there. he's obviously been somebody who's been outspoken in terms of what they would like to do in terms of future things. the other thing, republicans were able to put two of the panelists on there. it's the first conversation that will spark many other hearing at the judiciary committee. >> i want to close by talking about two articles from you all. some of your latest piece pieces. first one perry, on the agree owe, on debt ceiling obama forces republicans to blink. >> their policy they call it the boehner rule. for every dollar increase in this debt ceiling we have to have a dollar in cuts to match that. the president said earlier this month, i'm not doing that anymore. we are not going to keep negotiating over the debt ceiling. this is our obligation over. the republicans have conceded the president had won the argument and are now -- this week they ebb extended the debt ceiling with no accompanied spending cuts. the repub

' questions. mark kelly joins us this hour live in "the situation room." >>> plus, the mother of an american woman making her very first visit overseas and vanished in turkey. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room": >>> we begin with a deadly storm here in the eastern part of the united states. there is wind damage all across the southeast, some of it from tornadoes. one death is reported in tennessee, another in georgia. right now the worst weather is crossing georgia. cnn's miguel marquez is in adairsville where there is significant damage. tell us what is going on. >> reporter: huge damage. at least one person, we understand, was killed when a building collapsed but fortunately not where i'm standing, at least not that we know of. this entire area -- this looks like it was someone's -- part of somebody's lunch that was being made is here. across the road, this is the main road in adairsville, georgia. two roads are completely destroyed. you can see the cars that are flipped over and semitrucks are flipped over as well. you can see this was a plant making heavy machinery

-- >> i thought mark kelly was the best of all. >> we're going to show all this because there was such powerful testimony on capitol hill. >> did you see it? >> it was great. i got a big laugh out of wayne lapierre. he actually trotted out the survivalist argument. >> i know. i saw it. we're going to show it. >> we might have a hurricane, and then it's going to be like stephen king, zombies. you know, you get three shots into a zombie, seriously. did anybody read "the road"? did anybody read "the road"? has nobody seen "the book of eli"? has nobody seen "the book of eli," really? that gary oldman character, he's scary. and if you just have a glock -- >> okay. >> you won't see a bible. >> no, you are cooked. a street sweeper. >> i need my bushmaster because the zombies are coming after me. there's going to be a tornado. the power grid's going down. locusts are going to descend from heaven. is glenn beck still selling survival seats, willie geist? >> i didn't get the subscription when he went to the new network. he did have those ads on fox but i haven't seen them lately. >> i need survi

names. on one side, the ceo of the nra will testify. on the other side, mark kelly, the husband of former congresswoman gabrielle giffords will thereby to support new gun control rules. and we hear now that giffords herself may speak at the beginning of that hearing. >>> developing story out of alabama. police trying to negotiate with a gunman who is holding a six-year-old boy hostage in an underground bunker. it all started at 4:00 p.m. yesterday in midland city. the 65-year-old suspect boarded a school bus, shot the driver, and grabbed a boy. >> he started telling him he needed a kid because something about the law coming after him. then he shot the bus driver and the driver's foot was gas and we went backwards and everybody started screaming and then the bus driver was still there and we just all got off the bus and went to a neighbor's house. >> gretchen: unfortunately the bus driver did die. swat team members still on the scene of that house. they've been communicating with the gunman. we're told the child needs medication and the suspect has allowed police to provide it. >>>

gabrielle giffords's husband, mark kelly, will testify. joining me, mark smythe, a contributor to "msnbc." i want to go the line i first quoted. wayne lapierre, this comment sounds reasonable until you think about it. law abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of deranged criminals. a law abiding gun owner is responsible for what happened in newtown, connecticut. a law abiding mother was a gun owner, by all accounts, and that law abiding gun owner couldn't control her weapons, and those weapons were eventually used to kill her and to kill all of those children and those women educators in that school. so that is what one law abiding gun owner got us. >> that is a good point, lawrence. >> and that is what neil heslin was saying in his testimony, was that that woman should never have had those weapons in that home with -- you know, knowing

that includes mark kelly, husband of gabby giffords. before testimony began, giffords made a plea for action. >> violence is a big problem. too many children are dying. be bold, be courageous. americans are counting on you. >> kelly followed, arguing for restrictions on magazine clips, enhanced mental health care, and advanced background checks. >> we're both gun owners, and we take that right and the responsibilities that come with it very seriously, but rights demand responsibility, and this right does not extend to terrorists, it does not extend to criminals, and it does not extend to the mentally ill. >> while wayne lapierre struck a posture less combative than previous press conferences, his views remain questionable, calling for an immediate blanket of security at schools, lapierre dismissed universal background checks, saying criminals would never submit to them. chairman leahy pressed lapierre on background checks and whether and how the nra head had changed his mind on closing gun show loopholes. >> should we have mandatory background checks at gun shows for sales of weap

. americans are counting on you. >> she was pretty bold and courageous there. giffords husband, mark kelly, broke the news of the phoenix shooting we told you about during the hearing on gun violence in washington, which also included the nra's way wayne lapierre. later on "early start," james johnson tells us why he joined the fight for tighter gun laws. that's at 6:30 eastern. >>> recent mass killings have put guns and gun control in the spotlight across the nation. the controversial issue pits two passionately believed arguments against each other, constitutionality and commonsense safety, but can there be a solution to america's gun problems? anderson cooper looks at both sides of the debate in "guns under fire" tonight at 8:00 eastern on c nshgcnn. >>> we are a few hours away over a capitol hill showdown over the man who could be our next secretary of defense. >>> plus the invasion of gnomes, and how they have people in one community taking sides. the great gnome showdown. [ mal] how do you make america's favorite recipes? just begin with america's favorite soups. bring out chicken broccoli

courageous. americans are counting on you. >> giffords' husband, mark kelly also spoke along with the nra's wayne lapierre. tonight anderson cooper is looking at both sides of the debate in "guns under fire" this is an "ac360" town hall special tonight at 8:00 on cnn, it's going to be really interesting. as they debated gun control in washington another shooting was unfolding. arizona police are searching for the 70-year-old man they say is responsible for a deadly shooting in phoenix. the suspect, arthur douglas harmon was attending a meeting at a law office when he allegedly opened fire. 48 man was killed, two others wounded in the attack. harmon took off in a 2013 kia optima. police say he opened fire on a witness who tried to follow him. >>> hackers invading the "new york times" have finally been blocked at least for now. this is an amazing story. these hackers out of china have been attacking "the times" over the past four months, infiltrating their computer systems and stealing passwords. the papers say the timing of the attack related or not happens to coincide with their i